Alone in the Dark
by Mark 'Manix' Odell
Summary: Leon and Claire go on an investigation to Shadow Island; unfortunately, they crash land...leaving them alone on the haunted island which is not all that it appears to be...Go on, R&R! A semi-crossover, but only location/plot-wise!
1. One Stormy Night

****

One dark and stormy Night

I looked out at the driving rain, how it seemed to burst in all its fury on the wing of the plane as the light aeroplane drove into the thunderstorm, only just staying airborne. This wasn't the sort of weather I'd expected near South America, but then again if you've been living my life, anything's entirely possible.

This story should begin on _It all began on a dark and stormy night…_but that's just way too cliché, even if it does sum up the sort of scenario I was in right now. It seemed overly typical to me that no matter where I went the grim reaper lurked with his scythe, even if I am with somebody I love.

My name is Leon Scott Kennedy, I'm twenty-something and spend much of my time staring danger directly in the face. I've got brown-reddish hair, and I have been through a nightmare that has lasted nearly two years now. My girlfriend, Claire Redfield, sat next to me, smiling encouragingly at me as we clung to each other, enjoying what warmth we could share.

Claire was a beauty; auburn hair, a kindly and warm face plus a body most men would kill to be at least a foot away from…oh yeah, she's a fabulous girl alright. I think it started with our kindred spirits, the way we felt like we'd both been robbed by Umbrella. I met her that night in Racoon City…the night we so badly want to forget but which have so much trouble doing; but then again, if I hadn't experienced that I wouldn't have met Claire. Since then we've been through thick and thin together, even when we went our separate ways immediately afterwards. After we met up again, we got to know each other better. The more missions we went on, the more times we stayed in the same hotel, the more often we sneaked looks at each other the more we began to feel something a little more than friendship for each other. She had something of a hang-up about some guy called Steve Burnside, a guy who died a year and a half ago in the Antarctic when Claire had been there. I'd had something of a hang up about Ada Wong, a woman I met in Racoon City and who was probably incinerated with the rest of the population.

We found solace in each other; we always felt more comfortable in each others arms. We'd kissed for the first time three months ago…and slept together for the first time two months ago. 

But here we now were; together and huddled on this miniature tin can that maintained a constant battle against the gale and the hammering rain.

And there was only one parachute. The plane groaned under the stress of the constant battle its engine faced, the rain drumming down like an army of determined line dancers. We'd got hold of this plane from some fairly disreputable types on the South American border, which was where we'd started and were now one hundred miles away from.

"Leon, are you sure this plane is safe?" Claire asked as the plane rocked again.

"I'm not so sure myself" I replied "But it's all we could get, especially for the price they charged" 

The plane rocked violently this time.

"Leon, this plane feels like we're flying in something that's never seen a repair garage in its life" Claire added.

"Aww, Claire…" I squeezed her "Don't worry; I'm sure it'll be okay"

"Oh shut up" she giggled, slapping me on the back. 

"Where on the island does this Archaeologist live?" Claire asked, after finishing slapping me.

"The mansion that's its centrepiece" I explained "Sounds good, doesn't it? A mansion in the middle of nowhere, an island that's fallen silent…"

"Ooh, déjà vu" Claire replied raising an eyebrow.

"Apparently he's only been there recently; Morton hates his family home on Shadow Island " I said, removing the file that Chris had given us, the papers closed in a brown card file that could be easily bent and hidden in case we had any problems.

"That's Dr. Morton isn't it?" Claire asked, scratching her head "What's an academic genius like him doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know; the secret part of the file says he came here to do research that utilised his knowledge into Ancient languages" 

"Weird" Claire said, shaking her head "I want to know why Umbrella would be interested in that?"

"If it's weird then we've got to find out" I replied.

The co-pilot staggered in from the cockpit, looking decidedly unwell.

"How long?" I called over the crash of lightning.

"Um…should be about five minutes!" the co-pilot called back despite the fact the lightning had settled down for now "We have to find an airfield; it's a nightmare to land anywhere in this weather!"

"Sure!" I said, waving at him idly with one hand.

I put my arm around Claire, smiling at her to comfort her.

"We'll be on and off Shadow Island before you know it" I said.

"I'm not afraid Leon" she replied "But I want this to be our last outing for a while, you know?"

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Leon, I want us to spend real quality time together; we spend so much time going on missions we never have time to stop for a few moments…after this, can we go on holiday or something?"

I smiled, a little thrown by her plea; but I knew that this was what I wanted too. We both wanted peace, at least some peace for us…

There was a loud explosion; and suddenly to our alarm, the plane's trajectory tipped down several degrees sending us crashing to the floor. I looked up.

"What the hell's going on?!" I bellowed, as Claire picked herself up.

"I think this plane's going to crash!" Claire shouted above the screaming of the engine that seemed to fill the world. 

We staggered into the cockpit, staring out at the hammering rain and the view of a dark island rising sharply from the ocean towards us, the perspective of it changing as the windshield tilted crazily, giving a constantly distorted view of our destination. I had a deep sinking feeling about it as Claire asked, very loudly.

"What's going on?!"

"We've been struck by lightning!" the co-pilot said "You'll have to bail out!"  
I nodded, running into the back as the plane seemed to tip yet further down. I grabbed the two orange parachutes, tossing one to Claire as I hauled mine on.

She smiled, I smiled back; we were both frightened, but it wasn't anything we hadn't dealt with before. 

We were flying over the island now getting lower and lower…

"GO!" I yelled, "I'll find you! We've got our walkie-talkies!"

Claire nodded reluctantly, she grabbed the parachute and secured it on. She ran up to me and kissed me quickly, before hauling open the side-door. She jumped out, ice cold win roaring into the rear of the plane, I clung on as I stared out and saw with relief that her parachute had opened, its white circular shape drifting downwards.

I took a deep breath, and dived out of the open door into the slipstream. Wind and rain pummelled my face as I fell, nearly forcing me unconscious due to its pummelling effect, but I managed to stay awake. I yanked the cord, felt my body jerk sharply as the parachute opened…then I drifted down, drifting on the wind as I stared downward. I couldn't see Claire, in my feverishly swimming mind I assumed the wind had forced her to a location further away.

I watched my feet as I descended, slowly towards the ground. 

The grounded started to take some shape as I went down, the black mass of trees rushing up to meet me and swallowing me whole…I was faint, and I felt myself passing out of consciousness as I crunched through the foliage…everything went black.


	2. Alone in the Dark

****

Alone in the Dark

I awoke slowly. 

I was aware that I was swaying gently from side to side as my vision slowly adjusted to the gloom. The weather appeared to have died down a little, and while the storm appeared to still be raging up above, only the pattering of rain and the glare of lightning made itself felt. The wind had slowed, which suited me fine. My hands, cold but usable fumbled with the clip on my parachute. It clicked, and I dropped. 

I groaned from my recumbent position on the ground; it was damp and grassy, but not in a warm spring day kind of way, this was in an 'every blade of grass feels like the sharp edge of a glass shard' kind of way. 

I cursed, and sat up. The trees surrounded me, their black, abstract forms dripping condensation down on me, as I stared up at the sullen sky. I saw smoke rising somewhere in the distance…presumably that was mine and Claire's only exit route obliterated then.

Claire…Claire!

Scrabbling to my feet, I calculated that she'd landed somewhere to the east…I stood up, and looked approximately in that direction.

Through the trees mass of trees and ruined walls, I could see that, ahead and some distance away loomed a mansion. Some of its windows were lit…but not many. I assumed that if she'd landed anywhere, she'd head there. No time to waste then.

I checked to see if my Desert Eagle was undamaged. It was, and my ammo was fine too. Good, so I had something to spare. I hiked through the foliage, brushing fronds and trampling through long damp grass. The storm still raged, even if it was to a lesser extent; but it was raining, and I was now incredibly wet and uncomfortable. The chances of that mansion having electricity and hot water with a friendly man waiting for me at the gates was so absurdly remote I banished all thought of it from my mind.

There appeared to be some sort of a rough path that went through the woods, despite being somewhat overgrown; since I had no other option, I decided to follow it. As I walked through the wet undergrowth, I heard a tinny scratching sound…I was about to draw my weapon, when I realised that it was coming from me; and to me my relief, it was my walkie-talkie. I yanked it out and said into it. 

"Claire? Is that you?" 

"Leon? Oh my god, at last!" I heard her voice cry with relief "You're alive!"

"Just about hon! Damn I'm glad to hear you alive!" I said, equally relieved "Where are you?"

"I landed on the roof of the house" she explained "Found my way into the attic…Leon, this place is not good"

"Is it abandoned?"

"From what I can gather, yeah" I heard her say "Where are you?"

"In the woods outside" I replied.

"Oh lord…" she murmured "…Leon, you've got to get inside, quick!"

"What's the matter?"

"Stay in the light, Leon…" She was starting to break up, I could barely hear her voice now "…stay…light…!"

"Claire? CLAIRE!" I yelled, but it had clicked off. Obviously her signal wasn't as great where she was right now…Stay in the light? Why was she so worried? Claire was not often if ever wrong, and so I quickened my pace. The path took me around a bend and I found myself standing in front of a set of gates, not rusty and yet looking pretty derelict; obviously they hadn't been closed properly in quite a while, wedged hard up against the walls.

I swallowed, striding through the gates, nervous and yet prepared for what could come up ahead in the manner of somebody who was entering the gates of hell, which as it turned out, wasn't that far from the truth.

The low building was a relief, if anything merely a reprieve from the rain and coldness; I saw it upon entering and ran towards the entrance; before I froze to the spot, my blood turning to ice. A pool of blood dripped down the stairway, dripping slowly and gently down the damp stone steps before pooling at the bottom. 

I anxiously pulled my Desert Eagle out, stepping up the sodden steps and into the darkness beyond.

I heard a groan from the darkness; I ran towards the source of the sound, not liking the idea of what could be ahead of me. Flicking my torch on, I saw a man lying against the wall of what seemed to be a shed. Oddments were scattered across the floor, the man himself appeared quite severely wounded, a deep slashing cut to his chest drawing the life slowly out of him.

"Man…" I breathed, running up to him "…are you okay?"

He grunted, turning to look at me with old and weary eyes.

"Nah. I'm gonna die…that's obvious kid…look, don't bother with me, it'll happen soon…"

"What's happened here?" I asked gently.

"That crazy Dr. Morton…he's done something really stupid this time…" the man sighed "…I don't know what it is exactly that he's done…but if ya look at me, it doesn't take a genius to work out the sort of stuff he's been doin'"

"Does a company named Umbrella ring any bells?" I asked.

"Uh…" he frowned, wincing as he did so "…no, not at all"

"Look, I gotta do something for that wound" I said, reaching inside my jacket.

"Don't bother with me!" the man snapped, suddenly grabbing the lapels of my jacket, much to my surprise "Look…this place is haunted, it's very dangerous…if you go into that mansion, you're going to get…killed" he managed, sinking back as the pain started to overwhelm him.

I watched helplessly as he died right in front of me. This place was severely starting to creep me out; and Umbrella didn't even appear to be involved at the moment…but why would Umbrella be interested?

A key lay on the floor, near to where he lay; I picked it up, considering it might be of use to me, as keys generally did. I turned around, offering up a silent prayer for the guy before heading back outside into the storm. I quickly decided to follow the path that had been going past the building, discovering a large iron-gate at the end. I smiled to myself, despite my poor mood and uncomfortable feeling in the pouring rain, removing the key and inserting it in the lock. There was a click, and I forced my way through the gate and beyond. I prayed Claire was okay as I ran…

****

CLAIRE

A SHORT TIME BEFORE

High up and Far Off

The roof was ominously close as I descended, landing on the sloped surface in a slightly clumsy way. I got some footing, my 'chute descending behind me like a deflated balloon. I quickly disconnected myself from the harness to prevent myself from being pulled off the roof, and stumbled along its tiled expanse in an attempt to find a way in.

I was breathing heavily, still reeling from my sudden change in situation. This was without a doubt Shadow Island, in name and reputation so it seemed. I could see across the island from where I was, dense forests and swamps…but the other side I couldn't see, at least not yet. 

I hoped Leon was okay as I stumbled towards a window which I thought would be useful…Hell, I was panicking about him. I assumed he bailed out too, but how did I know that? He could have crashed and burned with the pilots – I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, no that _wasn't _true, he was alive. He _was _alive. 

The window was open, oddly enough. I scrambled inside, and closed them behind me, shutting out the wind and rain. Now it was the time of the silence. The darkness seemed to swirl around me with no discernible form, attempting to keep to the window to avoid stepping too far into the trackless dark. 

I could hear something…something faint…a low growl…or maybe it really was my imagination…but in my experience, if you heard a noise it wasn't something you made up. The faintest of faint footsteps could be heard, as if a spirit was treading the boards ahead of me.

__

I wish you were here Leon…

I pulled out my torch and clicked it on, the beam piercing the darkness. I could see it. A creature, crawling crab-like through the darkness. I held my breath. It didn't appear to have any real solid colour, black and spindly although impossibly to me, it was partially translucent. It didn't seem to like the light…

It chittered at me, and with astonishing speed it sprung at me, claws and spines pointed directly toward me.

__

Oh Christ!

I hurled myself to one side, and withdrawing my Colt I fired again and again into the creature. I pulled the trigger five times, and each shot somehow hit the spot. It squealed, flailing its limbs before it dropped dead and bleeding unspeakable juices onto the ground.

__

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…!

It was no Umbrella creature I recognised; despite knowing the Umbrella creature menagerie off by heart, this one drew a blank. It was like an upright spider of some kind…

I grabbed my walkie-talkie, in an attempt to contact Leon.

"Leon, please receive me! Is that you?" 

A crackle. Then a voice;

"Claire? Is that you?"

"Leon? Oh my god, at last!" I managed with great relief "You're alive!"

"Just about hon! Damn I'm glad to hear you alive!" I said, equally relieved "Where are you?"

"I landed on the roof of the house" I explained "Found my way into the attic…Leon, this place is not good"

"Is it abandoned?" he replied.

"From what I can gather, yeah" I said, looking around at the cobewebbed corners of the attic "Where are you?"

"In the woods outside" he said.

"Oh lord…" I murmured "…Leon, you've got to get inside, quick!"

"What's the matter?" he asked, a little confused. I could hear the rain in the distance.

"Stay in the light, Leon…"


End file.
